By Miguel A. Castro
Lauro Vega distinctly remembers being in England and anxiously waiting to receive orders from the 197th AAA Battalion, the company he was in.
"They told us, 'All you fellows will be in an invasion but we don't know where or when,'" Vega said. "They knew but they didn't want to tell us."
On June 4, 1944, it would be a friend's reaction to a delicious meal that would convince Vega that the 197th AAA Battalion would finally be shipped out to be a part of an invasion.
By Alicia Rascon
Ruben Casillas, a World War II veteran, remembers encountering discrimination on a daily basis in his youth.
Looking back, Casillas recalled being excluded from opportunities given to his classmates and still asks, "Why wasn't I included in that?"
As one of thousands of Mexican Americans to participate in World War II, Casillas fought not only for the safety of his nation but also to pave the way to equal opportunity in education and other government institutions for minorities.
By Nora Ramirez
World War II is over, but the fight against discrimination is far from finished for Joe Casillas, a WWII veteran who lives in San Diego.
His father, Felix Ledesma Casillas, was a migrant worker who came from Jalisco, Mexico in 1914 and worked in copper mines. Working conditions were terrible so he decided to move, buy land, and build a house.
By Kathryn Tomasovic
Andrew Aguirre's youth was overwhelmed with battlefield events that continue to haunt him to this day.
Aguirre was born in Vinton, Texas, on Jan. 4, 1925, and moved to San Diego three years later.
Growing up during the Great Depression, Aguirre's parents, Maximo and Sara Aguirre, struggled to feed and clothe nine children. All 11 members of the family lived in a tiny home, about 480 squared feet -- two rooms of about 12 feet wide and 20 feet long, with an outdoor toilet and a faucet for drinking water in the back.